The fledgling Pope John Paul II football team proved their might this week, defeating the Nantucket Whalers Sept. 28 in a JV match with a score of 14-0.

“The kids did a great job,” said head coach Paul “Spanky” Demanche.

The Lions hit the scoreboard in the second quarter when Rylan Richards made a nice 12-yard run, with Will Anderson converting for the two-point conversion to bring the score to 8-0.

According to Demanche, the Lions’ second TD came as the result of a muffed punt on the part of the Whalers. After PJPII recovered the fumble, quarterback Ken Stanley scored on a one-yard run, bringing the Lions’ total tally to 14-0.

“I think the most encouraging thing to us was the things we did poorly on in the first game we had worked hard on in practice,” said Demanche, who was named PJPIIs head coach last spring. “That showed in the game.”

Demanche said the team’s focus in recent practices included tackling, gaining better knowledge of assignments and sustaining blocks.

This is the first year that the school, in its third year of operation, has had a football team. Demanche said that while some players have had experience in the past, many are new to the game, which makes their progress all the more impressive.

“We still made mistakes,” he said. “We were down inside the 10-yard line in several instances and couldn’t punch it in, but we did significantly better on defense.”

Demanche praised the efforts of Richards, who he said had a great two-way game for the team. Defensively Sean Banks and Moe Marcondes also had stellar games.

“Those are some standouts defensively for us,” said Demanche.

In the coming weeks the Lions face Bishop Connolly and Nantucket again, this time in what is hoped to be an on-Cape match, though a location is still being determined.